Keralite community seeks delay in school reopening in UAE

File: School kids board the school bus in the UAE.
Image Credit: Gulf News File

Abu Dhabi: Indian community leaders sought the Indian Embassy’s help on Monday for schoolchildren in the UAE, who are victims of flood in the South Indian State of Kerala.

As most of those children may not be able to come back when Indian schools reopen in early September after summer vacation, a delayed reopening will be a big relief to them, the community leaders, who attended a meeting convened by the embassy to discuss relief efforts for Kerala, told Gulf News.

“As many Keralite families who went on vacation back home were affected by the flood, they cannot come back soon.

Since it will affect the education of those children, we sought embassy’s intervention to delay the school reopening for at least two weeks,” said Puthur Rahman, President of Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC).

The leaders also sought the embassy’s help for the flood victims who lost their passports and the UAE visa.

“Sushama Swaraj, the Indian Minster of Foreign Affairs, has already announced that damaged passports will be replaced free of charge. The lost passports should also be replaced without procedural delay,” said T.A Nazer, President of Abu Dhabi Malayalee Samajam.

He said the leaders also requested the embassy to take up the flood victims’ request for reissuance of the lost UAE residence visa with the UAE authorities.

If they can get the UAE visa reissued from the UAE Consulate General at Thiruvananthapuram, it will be a big solace to them, Nazer said. He said the leaders urged the embassy to take it up with the UAE Consulate in Kerala and the authorities in the UAE to support the flood victims.

Navdeep Singh Suri, the Indian Ambassador to the UAE, told Gulf News that he has taken note of these requests from the community leaders, without commenting further.

Meanwhile, the donations from UAE-based Indian businessmen for Kerala reached Dh23.21 million on Monday.

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